Best high-protein sweet snacks
Protein donuts, pastries, sweet rolls and crispy treats, ranked by protein per calorie.
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Protein donuts, pastries, sweet rolls and crispy treats are built to taste like dessert. How much protein do you actually get for the calories? We ranked the 18 treat-style products we track by grams of protein per 100 calories.
That's 13 distinct products once identical flavors are grouped: Legendary Foods donuts, pastries and sweet rolls, think! Crispy Squares, and Quest's Crispy Hero and Stacks.
Top 10 sweet high-protein snacks
| # | Item | Protein | Calories | Protein / 100 cal | Price / serving | $ / 10 g protein | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legendary Foods Mini Protein Donuts – Maple Glazed 2 donuts | 20 g | 160 | 12.5 | — | — | label |
| 2 | Legendary Foods Protein Donuts (2 flavors) Chocolate Dipped, Vanilla Glazed · 2 donuts | 20 g | 160 | 12.5 | — | — | label |
| 3 | Quest Crispy Hero – Cookies & Cream 1 bar (52 g) | 18 g | 150 | 12.0 | — | — | label |
| 4 | Legendary Foods Protein Donuts – Blueberry 2 donuts | 20 g | 170 | 11.8 | — | — | label |
| 5 | Legendary Foods Protein Pastry – Chocolate Caramel 1 pastry | 21 g | 180 | 11.7 | $3.45 | $1.64 | label |
| 6 | Legendary Foods Mini Protein Donuts – Cookies & Cream 2 donuts | 20 g | 180 | 11.1 | — | — | label |
| 7 | Legendary Foods Protein Pastry (3 flavors) Strawberry, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, S'mores · 1 pastry | 20 g | 180 | 11.1 | $3.45 | $1.73 | label |
| 8 | think! Crispy Squares – Chocolate Crunch 1 treat (per brand nutrition panel) | 15 g | 140 | 10.7 | — | — | label |
| 9 | Legendary Foods Protein Sweet Roll (2 flavors) Cinnamon, Caramel Sticky Bun · 1 roll | 20 g | 200 | 10.0 | $3.45 | $1.73 | label |
| 10 | think! Crispy Squares (2 flavors) Cookies & Crème, Marshmallow Crunch · 1 treat (per brand nutrition panel) | 15 g | 150 | 10.0 | — | — | label |
What stands out
Donuts lead. Three Legendary protein donut flavors are 20 g for 160 calories (12.5), the best scores in this group.
They score like a protein bar, not like a shake. This whole group runs from 7.6–12.5 per 100 calories. The best bar we track, David Gold, is 18.7.
Same brand, different treat. Legendary's range runs from 12.5 (donuts) to 9.5 (Milk Chocolate sweet roll), and Quest's Crispy Hero ranges from 12.0 (Cookies & Cream) to 7.6 (Peanut Butter & Jelly), the lowest here.
Most protein and fewest calories. The most protein in one item here is Legendary Foods Protein Pastry – Chocolate Caramel (21 g); the lowest-calorie item is think! Crispy Squares – Chocolate Crunch (140 calories, 15 g).
How to use this list
- Choosing between a treat and a bar? The top Legendary donuts (12.5) outscore every classic Quest Protein Bar (10.5–11.8) and every Pure Protein bar (10.0–10.6) we track, so a donut isn't automatically the worse pick on this metric.
- Want the most efficient sweet thing overall? Look at shakes and David Gold bars instead; see best bars per calorie.
- Flavor matters. Within Legendary's pastries, Chocolate Caramel (11.7) edges the other flavors (11.1) because it has one more gram of protein.
Price: we have brand-site prices for Legendary pastries and sweet rolls ($3.45 each, $1.64–$1.73 per 10 g of protein), not for the donuts or the others yet.
Caveats
Which products count as treat-style is our classification. Numbers come from each brand's or restaurant's published nutrition info, linked in the table, and can change. Flavors with identical label numbers are grouped into one row. We track 143 products, not every product on the market, so a missing product isn't a verdict on it. We rank by protein per calorie only and don't track sugar, fat, sodium or ingredients. General information, not dietary advice.
See all 143 products on The Hoard Board, our full leaderboard, or read how we rank.
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Disclaimer: All numbers come from manufacturer labels, brand websites and restaurant nutrition pages on the dates shown on the leaderboard. They can change without notice, vary by location, flavor or customization, or differ from the product in your hand. Always check the current label. This article is general information only and is not medical, dietary or health advice.